Project updates for Dec. 08

I was able to knit a bunch of hats and scarves, and they're soon going to the US to provide some warmth to relatives gathering together for the holidays in the East Coast. Still have to finish a couple of hats though, but I'll do them later tonight.

I just feel bad I have this bunch of charity projects here. I'll check with my brother if he has space in his return luggage even for three or four hats...to be snail-mailed to an American nonprofit who'll take care of shipping them to Mongolia! Wow, those hats will certainly go around the world.

I'm almost finishing color therapy mug rugs for a couple of special people. I might get to give them around the New Year though.

So far, it's been a productive year.

Knitting update: my ripple shawl

As of today, it's just about 15-20% done. I'm still deciding on how long I want it to be... i might make it 72-inches long... so I can engulf myself in it, like some blanket.

I combined two strands of tencel yarn, "olive green" and "golden yellow"... using US Size 6 circulars, 24-inches. At left is a horizontal shot of the shawl's rippled texture. I really wanted to use ripple stitch precisely to give my shawl a nice, wavy texture. I enjoy this stitch. It's a 10-row pattern that has yet to bore me.

Here's a pic of the two cones of tencel yarn I'm using up for this shawl. I hope I have enough! The cones approximately weigh half-pound each. Because tencel yarn is naturally shiny, yes, the yarns do gleam nicely in the pic... but not as brightly when knit together. I'm also planning to make more Ripple Shawls in other colors, such as brown-red and orange-peach.

Here's a close-up of the horizontal texture of the ripple stitch. It was kinda hard to make it show up in pics, I had to hold the shawl in an almost vertical slant just for the camera to get the shadows, for contrast. Professional photog I ain't:



Vertical pics of the shawl will show how the ripple stitch becomes a zig-zag stitch! And this is mostly how it'll look when the shawl's finally done, according to how I'll be wearing this shawl. I'm aiming to finish this shawl in time for my birthday this year... a gift for me, from me!


I changed the camera settings to see how the shawl would look under different lighting. Unfortunately I can't recall is this shot was done under "automatic" or "fluorescent" setting. I like how it shows the zig-zag effect of the ripple stitch, vertically:

Knitting again for family

Having done about half a dozen woolen hats for charity, I cleaned up my knitting workstation and realized I didn't have enough hats to send to the US for the holidays! Technically, I do... I've got about 15 hats, in acrylic... but not in the favorite colors of my intended recipients.

So I'm wrapping up my charity knitting to focus on family this time... this month is good enough, giving me time to do a scarf or two along with about 3-4 more hats...I have siblings on both sides of the Coast, and for sure some of them will be going through a snowy winter there... brrr...i'm still deciding if I should send my older sis woolen hats, as she may not like them since they're not machine-washable.

Then I want to try knitting berets, using tencel... I think they would be one way to differentiate what I'm making, for sale, compared to the machine-knitted hats I saw recently being sold in some stall somewhere... stockinette mostly... some hats were crocheted, but in garish colors. I need to differentiate my stuff by making them stylish and pretty. Not everyday pang-masa. Maybe I should just get orders for specific colors and designs...

I've soon take pics of my woolen hats... need to weave in ends first :-) besides, my energy is rather strange lately... there's the sense of going on a slowdown, preparing for a revving up...

I've been re-thinking my entire knitting wish list... need to hold off getting more tencel yarn as I do have enough to last me for years... well, considering my knitting pace, yeah, for years... I'd rather de-stash these days, that's why I'm using up my woolen yarn which has been around for a few years, ever since I started knitting. My goal would be to use up ALL my woolen yarn first, then ALL my tencel...

Return of the Mad Hat Knitter, for charity

Recently I realized I had at least two opportunities coming up to send items to the US for snail-mailing, and so I decided to do some charity knitting.

This time, I decided to use up my wool yarn, which I had bought at bargain prices a few years ago in Divisoria when I was just a beginner in knitting. Some charity groups prefer woolen items for donation, since they warm the body well.

I checked the Warm Woolies group which, like my previous beneficiary, Dulaan, send woolen items to Mongolia, particularly for kids and teens. They prefer knitted and crocheted items that can be worn, like vests and sweaters, and hats!

And here are my first two creations:

Right, a mostly pink head-hugger hat, using four strands of yarn--2 strands of 100% wool in pastel pink, 1 strand of 85%wool and rayon in pale yellow and 1 strand of the same yarn, in bright pink.

Left, a 2x2 ribbed hat in bright orange and bright pink (85%wool and rayon).

The mostly pink headhugger is sized for a teenager. I just used the free Warm Woollies hat patterns as guidelines, since they were designed for knitting from the bottom up, whereas I knit my hats from the top down.

Here's a close-up of the pink headhugger, done entirely in stockinette, and will have a rolled brim. I can't wait to bind it off sometime today and start another one:



Here's a close up of the cheery ribbed hat which is sized for a kid up to maybe 11 or 12 yrs old:


I'm planning to knit up at least 6 pieces, for now, in various colors and sizes. Need to email first those who'll be bringing them to the US for me, and check if they have space in their return luggage...

Making a wish list, and checking it twice :-)

Being aware that I have at least two possibilities of folks traveling from the US to the Philippines in the next 6 months, I dutifully made a wish list of knitting stuff I badly need from there.

The needle brand would most likely be Susan Bates, as I'm familiar with it, and satisfied with the performance so far. Affordable too...

Here goes, a list in progress:

Size 1 circular needles, metal
Size 6 double pointed needles, metal
Sizes 8, 9, 10 circulars, 16 inches long

Another row counter (well, maybe 2)

Elann's Canapone hemp yarn in the following colors, including Green Tea, which I already have some of but will get maybe 2-3 more balls, just in case:

FREE PATTERN: Simply Dotted Hat

The "Simply Dotted Hat" pattern starts from the top down and is knit in the round. This is a modified version of the "Simple Seed stitch", page 64, The Harmony Guide to Knitting Techniques and Stitches, edited by Debra Mountford.




Multiple of 4 plus 1 (I had 81 stitches)
Yarn: worsted weight acrylic
Size: US 7 mm /4.5 mm

INCREASE portion
Using 4 dpns

Cast on 9 stitches, and divide evenly on 3 dpns, 3 stitches per needle.

Row 1: Knit (and all other odd rows)
Row 2: Knit into the front of back of each stitch (kfb), producing 6 stitches per needle, total of 18 stitches.
Row 3: Knit
Row 4: kfb every 2nd stitch, producing 9 stitches per needle, total 27 stitches.
Row 5: Knit
Row 6: kfb every 3nd stitch, producing 12 stitches per needle, total 36 stitches.
Row 7: Knit
Row 8: kfb every 4th stitch, producing total of 15 stitches per needle, total 45 stitches.
Row 9: Knit
Row 10: kfb every 5th stitch, producing 18 stitches per needle, total 54 stitches.
Row 11: Knit
Row 12: kfb every 6th stitch, producing 21 stitches per needle, total 63 stitches.
Row 13: Knit
Row 14: kfb every 7th stitch, producing 24 stitches per needle, total 72 stitches.
Row 15: Knit
Row 16: kfb every 8th stitch, producing 27 stitches per needle, total 81 stitches.

VIEW OF THE SPIRAL TOP





START OF "Simply Dotted" pattern-- switch to circulars

Row 17: (Row 1 of pattern, right side)
Purl 1, *knit 3, purl 1* until last 4 stitches, knit 4.

Row 18: (Row 2 of pattern)
Knit

Row 19: (Row 3 of pattern)
Knit

Row 20: (Row 4 of pattern)
Knit

Row 21: (Row 5 of pattern)
Knit 2, Purl 1, *knit 3, purl 1* until last 2 stitches, knit 2.

Row 22: (Row 6 of pattern)
Knit

Row 23: (Row 7 of pattern)
Knit

Row 24: (Row 8 of pattern)
Knit

Repeat Rows 17-24 until desired length.



Basically, the pattern's rows 1 and 5 are where the dotted stitches are worked, and you knit 3 rows between Rows 1 and 5.

For this hat, I preferred having a rolled brim. After getting about 5-6 inches, I stopped at either Row 4 or Row 8, and just knitted all rows, up to at least one more inch.



If you wish to end the hat with a 1x1 rib, stop knitting in pattern when you reach either Row 4 or Row 8, depending on your desired hat length, then start knitting in single rib.

Bind off loosely.

Free Pattern: Arrow Rib Hat, from the top down

My first ever hat pattern is an adaptation of the "Little Arrow" stitch from page 62 of The Harmony Guide to Knitting Techniques and Stitches (Debra Mountford, editor, 1992). I knitted this for my "bunso" (youngest) sister, Marie, who asked for something in orange... she lives and works in San Francisco, California and has a handsome Irish-American bf who lives in upstate New York... so I guess she'll probably get to use the hat in both coasts.



Since the hats I've been knitting have been geared more for keeping heads warm and dry during rainy season in the Philippines, I had to look for a pattern that would keep my sis really warm, and I wanted something beyond the usual rib pattern.

I also had to find something that would go with my stitch count of 81 stitches, since that measurement more or less comfortably fit my own head and I assume my sis too...

Then I had to modify the "Little Arrow" stitch pattern since it was given for flat knitting, and I was knitting in the round with my 16-inch circulars.

I knit my hats from the top down. My increases are 9 stitches every other row. Basically the pattern produces a horizontal zigzag interrupted by single rib columns. Regarding my photos, please forgive the varying shades of orange... i took them on a cloudy afternoon by the door, and changed the camera settings midway the photo shoot :-)




Arrow Rib Hat

(NOTE: This pattern starts from the top down. It produces two rib columns at the join, between the last stitch of each row and the first stitch of the next row.)

Multiple of 8 plus 1
Yarn: worsted weight acrylic
Size: US 7 mm /4.5 mm


INCREASE portion
Using 4 dpns

Cast on 9 stitches, and divide evenly on 3 dpns, 3 stitches per needle.

Row 1: Knit (and all other odd rows)
Row 2: Knit into the front of back of each stitch (kfb), producing 6 stitches per needle, total of 18 stitches.
Row 3: Knit
Row 4: kfb every 2nd stitch, producing 9 stitches per needle, total 27 stitches.
Row 5: Knit
Row 6: kfb every 3nd stitch, producing 12 stitches per needle, total 36 stitches.
Row 7: Knit
Row 8: kfb every 4th stitch, producing total of 15 stitches per needle, total 45 stitches.
Row 9: Knit
Row 10: kfb every 5th stitch, producing 18 stitches per needle, total 54 stitches.
Row 11: Knit
Row 12: kfb every 6th stitch, producing 21 stitches per needle, total 63 stitches.
Row 13: Knit
Row 14: kfb every 7th stitch, producing 24 stitches per needle, total 72 stitches.
Row 15: Knit
Row 16: kfb every 8th stitch, producing 27 stitches per needle, total 81 stitches.


START OF "Arrow Rib" -- switch to circulars

Row 17: Knit 2, purl 2, knit 1, purl 2, *knit 3, purl 2, knit 1, purl 2* repeat until last 2 stitches, knit 2.

Row 18: Knit 3, purl 1, knit 1, purl 1, *knit 5, purl 1, knit 1, purl 1* repeat until last 3 stitches, knit 3.
Row 19: Knit 1, *purl 1, knit 5, purl 1, knit 1* repeat til end
Row 20: Knit 1, *purl 2, knit 3, purl 2, knit 1* repeat til end

Repeat Rows 17-20. If you wish to end the hat with a 1x1 rib, like I did, stop knitting the Arrow Rib pattern when you get 5-6 inches, depending on your desired hat length. Bind off loosely.



I've got another hat pattern to upload, the "Simply Dotted" hat. Need to sked another photo shoot for that :-) stay tuned!